Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria is British Columbia's capital, a compact city at the south end of Vancouver Island surrounded by twelve other municipalities in the Capital Regional District, on the territory of the Lekwungen-speaking Songhees and Esquimalt Nations. The City of Victoria runs planning and building permits, business and dog licences, Bylaw Services and Animal Control, roads, parking and parkades, water distribution, sewers and storm drains, curbside garbage and kitchen scraps collection, the Victoria Fire Department, emergency management, parks and the Crystal Pool, Ross Bay Cemetery, the City Archives and the downtown Business Hub. Policing is the Victoria Police Department, a municipal force shared with Esquimalt. The Capital Regional District supplies the drinking water, treats the sewage, runs the Hartland landfill and Blue Box recycling and the regional parks and housing programs; BC Transit runs Victoria Regional Transit; the library is the Greater Victoria Public Library; health care is Island Health (Royal Jubilee and Victoria General hospitals); and marriage licences, health cards and driver's licences are provincial.